


Tongue Tied

by Chromophilic_Daydream



Category: Persona 5
Genre: M/M, Wedding piece for the wedding zine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-26
Updated: 2019-11-26
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:00:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21566512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chromophilic_Daydream/pseuds/Chromophilic_Daydream
Summary: Everything was going to be fine. As long as he was able to soak in the glow that constantly surrounded this amazing man, everything was going to be just fine. It was incredible just how powerful of a force Amamiya Ren was in his life. They had found each other at such a low point in their lives and believed in each other in a way no one else had ever really done for Ryuji before.
Relationships: Amamiya Ren/Sakamoto Ryuji
Comments: 1
Kudos: 30





	Tongue Tied

**Author's Note:**

> I really enjoyed writing this fic for this ship. I haven't done it before but PegoRyu hits a soft spot for another OTP of mine so this was a lot of fun to revisit a bit of that dynamic. Thank you [ Reiko](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Selvanic) for betaing and helping run the wedding zine! Our whole team did such a great job bringing LGBT+ content for a good cause. 
> 
> Thank you [ Lit](https://twitter.com/snarky_broad) for hyping me up for this! I appreciate y'all.

He had been practicing.

Holy  _ shit, _ had he been practicing. It wasn't even something he had been worried about in the first place, but the more he thought about it, the more nervous he got. He just really didn't want to mess this up. Vows were important, right? And he'd be damned if he was going to screw up something important.

He wondered vaguely, as he stared down at those four little note cards scribbled in Ann's neat handwriting, if Ren had been this nervous asking Ryuji to be with him for the rest of his life. He remembered Ren's palm being a bit clammy, maybe even shaking. Or Ryuji was shaking. Maybe they both were.

But the flood of relief that washed over Ren's face when Ryuji said 'of course I will' was enough to shake the jitters right out of him. A blush crawled onto Ryuji's face, up his neck, and burnt his ears at the thought of those earnest eyes searching his own. It was like the clouds parting to reveal a warm sun he was lucky enough to bask in. That's what Ren's quivering smile reminded him of, and he was going to do his best to keep that sunshine always glowing. 

That smile refueled him, even at his most downtrodden. He wasn't going to give up to a few sentences he had to memorize! No way. Ren wouldn't give in that easily and neither would he.

His eyes scanned the cards again, mouthing the words he had spewed unfiltered at Ann as she wrote them down, edited them, and handed the notes back to him. He didn't remember saying half this shit. He knew she took some liberties with it because 'it'd make him sound more refined' but some of these words were just... foreign-tasting in his mouth. Affirm? Generosity? Eternity? 

Ryuji's nose wrinkled at the words (broken up in hiragana like he was some kind of grade schooler still) and sighed loudly. It was just so cheesy, but it was how he really felt—just polished up. It was fine, though. If Ren could ask Ryuji to marry him... Ryuji could definitely express himself and what his relationship with Ren meant to him in front of a few people. Easy-peasy. This was his Everest or whatever... but people climbed Everest all the damn time.

The thought of messing up was still nagging at him, taking the tone of Ann's well-meaning voice.

When he suggested a few weeks ago that he could read his vows off the paper, she scoffed at him from behind her milkshake and rolled her eyes.

"Oh okay, Ryuji." She snatched the postcards from him and buried her face in them, almost comically close to her nose and mumbled heartfelt but embarrassing words at him.

"Amamiya Ren, your generosity knows no bounds," she grumbled in a stiff, static voice until he could almost feel steam coming out of his ears from the heat gathering in his face. He took his cards back and put them in his jacket pocket. 

"That won't happen! I can read them normally."

"Ryuji, it's just a few lines! You wrote them yourself! How hard is this really going to be for you?" She crossed her arms with a huff and leaned back in her chair to stare at him in that annoying Ann way of hers.

"You made ‘em fancy so it's harder, okay? Listen, I've got this. I've got this." He scowled, mimicking her posture and crossing his arms as well.

"Oh yeah? How do they start, then?"

He felt a bead of sweat roll down his neck.

"Uh, R-ren."

She sighed and shook her head. "You can't stammer! This is supposed to be a wedding, not a funeral! Geeze Ryuji."

"No one is going to die!"

"I'll die of embarrassment if you can't string together two words without being flustered. I'm supposed to be your coach in this! Just keep trying."

He met up with her several times over the next few weeks, a nervous energy washing over him as the days counted down to the ceremony itself. Ryuji gained the habit of fishing the vows from his pocket, mumbling them, and shoving them back into his pocket every day when he was feeling especially gutted by the whole affair.

Sometimes Ren caught him doing it, other times he had been far more stealthy. But a few nights before they were going to go to the beachfront hotel, Ren found him gazing at his vows rather than packing.

"If you stare at it too long it'll catch fire, you know."

Ryuji had just finished mouthing out the last sentence when he jumped at the closeness of Ren's voice. He hadn't noticed when he entered their room... nor when he got close enough to wrap his arms around Ryuji's waist and rested his chin on his shoulder.

"W-what?" He stammered, crumbling the paper in a panic to hide what was written.

"Nothing," Ren's voice was soft and soothing to his flared nerves. He took in a deep gulp of air and felt his shoulders relax under the weight of his fiance's chin.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Hm, a bit worried. The man I'm going to marry keeps mumbling things under his breath, you see. Maybe the pressure is getting to him?"

Ryuji chuckled and shook his head. "N-nah, don't worry about me. I'm fine."

"Really?"

"Yeah, promise. I'm just trying to memorize my vows." It was a bit silly saying it out loud now. He turned to face Ren, expecting to find stormy gray eyes arched with furrowed brows—perhaps in a bit of judgment since it was taking Ryuji this much effort to commit a few lines to memory...

But he just found surprise in Ren's eyes.

Really—he loved that face. The way his lips were slacked opened, the corners of his mouth arched down... his head tilted ever so slightly with his curls spilling over the rims of his new pair of glasses. It was cute. Ren was... really cute.

"Is that what you've been doing? Huh..." 

"Yeah! I don't want to mess it up, you know?"

His fiance's look of confusion broke away to a smile before he gently flicked Ryuji's nose. "I don't think vows are a thing you can mess up," he said quietly, closing the gap between them as he wrapped his arms around Ryuji's neck.

Ryuji hadn't thought of that. "Yeah, you can... like you can forget everything you wanted to say... and... everyone will stare—"

A flicker of a soft smile graced Ren's lips and the warmth from it melted away Ryuji's apprehensions in that single moment.

"Doesn't matter. I will know what you mean. Those words are for me and me alone, right? Don't worry about anyone else." Ryuji's heart fluttered wildly in his chest as soft lips pressed against his own.

"So, why don't you forget practicing vows and come rehearse some other  _ important _ things with me?"

A warm wave of heat rolled through Ryuji's stomach when Ren grinned at him like that.

Everything was going to be fine. As long as he was able to soak in the glow that constantly surrounded this amazing man, everything was going to be just fine. It was incredible just how powerful of a force Amamiya Ren was in his life. They had found each other at such a low point in their lives and believed in each other in a way no one else had ever really done for Ryuji before. Ren didn't ignore him, throw him aside—Ren didn't shun him the way the world had. For the first time in a long time, he had found a friend in someone.

He had found someone who believed in him. It wasn't a stretch of the imagination to say that Ren saved him... saved him from becoming so lost and alone. He didn't know what would have become of his life if he didn't walk with Ren to that gaudy ass castle and start this whole adventure eight years ago...

But he was grateful every day that he found the courage to confess his feelings after being apart for several months during their senior year. Even in that time apart, Ryuji hadn't felt alone like he had before, but there’d been something nagging at him. It took a while to figure it out but once he did—once he realized he was head over heels in love with his best friend—there was no distance between them that he wouldn't run to find Ren.

And now it had come to this. Ryuji heard Ren drifting off in the quiet hours of the night and felt a smile flash across his face... they were really getting married. He was really going to spend the rest with his wonderful man.

He reached down and grabbed his pants, taking the crumpled papers out of his pocket and smoothing them on his knee before glancing over them. He was going to deliver this smoothly. It's what Ren deserved... he needed to know just how committed he was to him.

When they finally packed up and left, Ryuji found less and less time for final private rehearsals. Everything was kind of chaotic, and between Haru and Ann's perfectionism taking hold he and Ren barely had any kind of time together at all. Between figuring out the sleeping arrangements at the hotel for everyone and making last-minute adjustments to the venue, Ryuji barely had time to think, let alone practice  _ anything. _

Even the rehearsal dinner went by like a blur. The hall they were practicing in was stuffy and not as well ventilated as he had hoped, which made Ryuji thrilled they didn't choose to have an inside wedding. However, the whole evening dragged on with a bunch of 'hurry up and wait' crap going on. He didn't really mind... but he heard Ren grumble over and over about how they should have just skipped the rehearsal. It made him smile to hear Ren was just as over this prep stuff as he was. 

He was far more eager for the real deal the next day on the beach where the whole group had their parting day in the sun all those years ago.

The hot and humid day had worn him out though and, before he knew it, he was collapsing on a bed, alone, to get up just a few hours later and actually get ready.

That's when his nerves really settled in. He forgot how to tie a bow tie approximately seven hundred times and had to ask Yusuke, then Makoto, for help. Makoto was far more helpful and seemingly far more  _ prepared  _ than even he was. She was already done getting ready, probably to help him and Ren get themselves together. She straightened out the bow around his neck and patted down his vest.

"I wouldn't put the coat on until you have to. It's already pretty warm outside."

She wasn't wrong. Not at all. Even in the shade that had been provided by the whole set up didn't offer much relief. He made his way to the front of the aisle and parked himself next to Ann.

"How do I look?" he asked, swallowing his nerves down with a dry gulp. Her watery blue eyes widened and she smacked him playfully on the arm.

"You look really good," she choked out, waving her hand in front of her face to keep her eyes dry. He didn't expect her to get so choked up about all of this but it seemed everyone in the wedding party was almost as emotional as she was. He ran a hand through his dark hair and rubbed his neck as the music started to play and seats filled.

"Have you seen him?" He leaned over to ask Ann. She shook her head.

"Not yet. You got everything?"

He nodded. "Futaba has the rings so we're good."

"What about—"

"I got ‘em memorized." He cut her off and shot her a smile. He did have them memorized. Fancy words and all. He was going to tell Ren exactly what he meant to him and—

All of a sudden, he saw him. It took a moment to realize what was happening. The music that had meshed in tune with the breaking waves seemed to halt when he caught a glimpse of the charcoal gray of Ren's suit. Ryuji felt like he had been hit with a gust of wind so powerful it knocked the breath from his lungs.

Ren had neatened up his hair, combing a side back behind his ear, and had chosen to remove his glasses for the occasion. God, this was really happening, right?

He looked so good in that gray suit. He caught Ryuji's eyes on him and smiled warmly. It took everything in him not to sniff like Ann was doing right beside him. God, he was so handsome. Too handsome. In all his life he wondered what it was about him that could keep a person like this in his life. Ren's face was brighter than the sun's; he had never seen a smile as vivid as his.

He was mesmerized, entranced, as he grew closer and closer. Ryuji couldn't help but hold out a hand to him and he felt his heart about give out when Ren took it.

The words Futaba said went right over his head. He had no idea what she was saying. He could barely hear some jokes over his own pulse, and the laughs of the audience did register with him but it wasn't enough to knock him out of the trance Ren's eyes put him in.

"You're beautiful," he heard himself say, probably louder than he intended, but Ren laughed softly and leaned into him to nuzzle his cheek.

"You're beautiful, too."

There was a moment of absolute silence that fell over everything. That moment stretched until he heard Ann clear her throat. He turned back to her and saw her downturned lips. Oh. It was time.

His vows.

He looked back at his soon to be husband.

Opened his mouth.

And forgot every single word he had spent several weeks memorizing.

"I—"

Ren tilted his head, a knowing smile gracing those lips once again. He leaned forward and whispered in Ryuji's ear.

"Just say how you feel. It's alright. You aren't going to mess up." Ryuji blinked thickly and nodded ever so slightly before clearing his throat.

"I have a copy," Ann interjected. He turned to her, seeing fresh note cards in her hand before looking up at her. He shook his head.

"I'm good, thanks. I think I got it." He smiled feebly at her then turned back to his soon to be husband, staring deeply into his eyes, trying to think of anything he could ever say to actually convey how he felt about him. He cleared his throat again.

"I don't... know," he began, stumbling awkwardly over his thoughts as the words came out of his mouth, "what I did to deserve someone like you in my life. I mean, you saved me in more ways than I think you could ever know." He felt Ren's grip on his hand tighten. "I do know that I want to always be there for you, and I mean always. You don't... you don't express it much but I know you. I know you carry a lot of shit with you that you don't talk about. I want... to be that person you share that with. I want you to rely on me. I want you to know that I'm always going to be your rock and that I love you. You're my best friend and..."

He lost his train of thought, his words jumbling in his mouth before Ren gave him another reassuring squeeze. "I would follow you to the ends of the earth if I could keep your light in my life."

He didn't know exactly what he just said, but he could see tears welling up in Ren's eyes before they closed. He heard Ann choke back a sob and noticed Futaba pull out a tissue for her.

Ren seemed to regain his composure and looked back at Ryuji, eyes a bit redder than they had been. His heart was soaring so high, he didn't think he could ever come down from this feeling as Ren began to talk.

"You say all these things but I feel the same way about you. You just try so hard all the time to not let the world get you down, and I aspire to be like you." Ryuji blinked in surprise. Ren wanted to be like him? He couldn’t see why.

"I don't think you realize just how amazing you actually are Sakamoto Ryuji. How in the world can someone who was so... beaten down still smile so brightly? I want to be there to help you too. I want to be there to love you so you'll never feel alone again. You, of all people, don't deserve to feel so thrown out by the world. The world is lucky to have you shine on it. And I want to make sure that you always feel appreciated and special because you are to me... I love you so...much." He had never heard Ren struggle to make a sentence before and couldn't help the smile that was making his mouth ache from holding it.

He couldn't believe such words were directed at him, not even for any special reason... but just for being himself. He felt so empowered like he could not only climb Everest but break the damn thing in half if he punched it hard enough.

When they exchanged rings and kissed, Ryuji could have died the happiest he had ever been in his whole life, tied up in the arms of the person he loved more than anyone else in the entire world. Fancy words be damned; as long as he had Sakamoto Ren, he could never be happier.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> my twitter is @chromiekins


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